New Delhi: Amid the nationwide outrage over the horrific Hathras and Balrampur cases, a section of social media has dug up old articles of Yogi Adityanath, claiming how the UP CM harbours an ‘anti-women’ mindset.
Essay on role of women in Indian Culture
Six years back, Adityanath had written an essay on the role of women in Indian culture on his website Matrushakti Bharatiya Sanskriti Ke Sandharbh Mein. Adityanath made a case in the essay that women required protection and should not be allowed independence, as “it may lead to wastefulness or destruction of women”.
He wrote, “Shastras have talked about giving protection to women. Just like urja (energy) left free and unchecked causes destruction, women also don’t need independence, they need protection. Their energy should be channelised to be used productively.”
Well, these statements have come back to haunt him again and social media has slammed him for his regressive and misogynistic views on women:
Stree Shakti
He also wrote, “Stree Shakti (women’s power) is protected by the father when a child, by the husband when an adult and by the son in old age.”
Further, he mentioned how certain qualities were exclusive to both sexes and could not be exchanged.
“If a man was to ever get the same attributes as women – that of humility, love and compassion – then he is equivalent to god. But if a woman adopts the qualities of men – that of bravery (shaurya) or masculinity (purusharth) – then she becomes a devil (rakshasa).”
Adityanath had also written that “a home gets destroyed when women become as effective as men.”
“Evaluate how it affects the necessary and important role of women in family and upbringing of children. Decide that if women are given participation equivalent to men in politics and life outside, then whether our mother, daughter and sister would lose their form and significance,” he wrote.